Which bike to use for first long ride (167km)

[Christie]

Consider first if you are up for a gravel grind. I find them tollerabke, but 167km sounds rather unpleasant to me.

 

To the question at hand: I would recommend you choose based on the road surface:

 

If smooth, well maintained farm roads then hardtail. I would guess that it would have a riding position more suited to XC / XCM. For ride comfort, optimize tyre pressure. On my hardtail I run 1.5 bar front, 1.6 rear. (Some tests I saw showed that below 1.4 the rolling resistance start increasing as pressure drops)

 

On a rough surface, rather the dual. Last year I rode Hell&Back on the hardtail, and while all went swell on Swarberg pass dirt road, the dirt road in Gamkas kloof had me wishing for my dual.

 

I rode 2018 Transcape on my trail bike, and it was fine for several days worth of gravel grind.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

those are ebike weights so the one with the longest battery life.  

 

But in case they aren't, hardtail with your favourite saddle and correct tyre pressure

[Ozzie NL]

Corrugation was the main issue for most riders on the last RttS so I would rather ride a dual sus.

 

BUT Hard men with beards and tattoos would prefer a rigid single speed with square wheels...obviously

[Milosh]

Dual with a 34 oval from rapide , will give your the gearing , your body will thank you for the dual 

[coppi]

Corrugation was the main issue for most riders on the last RttS so I would rather ride a dual sus.

 

BUT Hard men with beards and tattoos would prefer a rigid single speed with square wheels...obviously

The youngsters today with beards and tattoos are cool wannabees and Mommy's boys, definitely  NOT hard men.....................

[FirstV8]

Some of our group are riding it and we have been helping them with distance rides over 110km per time .. They train 60 to 80 km daily so have the fitness . Listening to them talk about the ride it has many km of corrugations and gravel and some tar  . There choice is dual suspension purely because of the corrugations . At least you can lock shocks on gravel and tar but you cant soften a hardtails back end . .

Edited January 29, 2019 by FirstV8

[Jewbacca]

Some of our group are riding it and we have been helping them with distance rides over 110km per time .. They train 60 to 80 km daily so have the fitness . Listening to them talk about the ride it has many km of corrugations and gravel and some tar  . There choice is dual suspension purely because of the corrugations . At least you can lock shocks on gravel and tar but you cant soften a hardtails back end . .

Being able to sit and pedal while not beating yourself up is amazing....

[Pieter-za]

https://racetothesun.co.za/faqs/

 

Do I need a mtb or road bike?

We allow Gravel road bikes into this event, modifications to your Mountain Bikes are welcome as long as they are safe for yourself and fellow competitors. (Rigid forks and hard tails will be fine, little to no corrugation roads) Although there are parts on the tar road, a road bike will not be able to handle the rest of the route

 

You won't be the only one on a HT

Edited January 29, 2019 by Pieter-za

[Wolfie1]

Hard tail slack geometry 120mm fork with lockout and light voluminous tires.

 

Play with pressures for your rear end and play with fork settings for comfort up front.

 

my 2 cents

[PieterJvR]

If you don't mind corrugations and your back side doesn't get sore, then HT.  Not worth it to spend money on the HT unless you have cash burning a hole in your pocket, so take it like it is (except maybe for a comfortable saddle  )

 

Personally I would take the dual suspension trail bike.  I have done a 135km in that area and it is pancake flat, with lots of corrugation and soft sand - and since it is flat you don't get time to rest -  you constantly pedal and you sit on your saddle 95% of the time.

[FirstV8]

 I have done a 135km in that area and it is pancake flat, with lots of corrugation and soft sand - and since it is flat you don't get time to rest -  you constantly pedal and you sit on your saddle 95% of the time.

 

Here is the answer 

[Arries87]

Thanks everyone for the replies and opinions! I weighed the HT, to get it light enough to justify it would cost me too much. Its less than 1kg lighter than the trail bike currently. 

 

Figured I will rather take the trail bike and lock out the suspension as the need arrises. The mentions about the corrugations made up my mind on that one! I will prbably change out the seat for one of the FARR enduro seats to give my @ss more of a break!